Meeting of the EU Chiefs of Defence

Bruxelles, 25/10/2018 - 00:00, UNIQUE ID: 181105_10

Press releases

The EU Chiefs of Defence met on 24th and 25th of October, in Brussels, for their second
Military Committee meeting in 2018.

The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission (HR/VP), Mrs Federica Mogherini, addressed the CHODs for an update on EU Security and Defence matters.

During the first day the EU Chiefs of Defence discussed EU's CSDP military operations and missions and Deputy Secretary General for CSDP, Ambassador Pedro Serrano, updated and provided them with an overview on the European Peace Facility nitiative.

On the second day, Chiefs had a discussion on the EU-NATO cooperation together with Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, Chairman of NATO's Military Committee and they have been updated on EU-NATO cooperation, including on areas such military mobility, hybrid and cyber domains.

In addition, the EU Chiefs of Defence discussed cooperation with their counterparts from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Serbia, Montenegro, Vietnam, and the Republic of Korea and focused on partnership with the EU and participation in EU's operations and missions.

Following, EU Chiefs of Defence, have been briefed on the latest developments on the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) trial run as well as proposals for the second phase of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). They have also been updated on the European Defence Fund (EDF).

Finally, the Chiefs exchanged views on the future of the EU command and control structure as well as on the migration situation.

A the end of the meeting, the handover between General Mikhail Kostarakos and the Committee's new permanent Chairman, General Claudio Graziano took place.